Tuesday, October 09, 2018

Ludhiana: Here is some good news for Ludhiana and other districts of Malwa. The Centre has approved setting up of an international airport at Halwara, 32 km from Ludhiana. The development comes after chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh sent a proposal to the Centre for permitting civilian flights from Halwara Air Force Station as various business associations of Ludhiana had pressed for it.
Recently, a team of officers of Airports Authority of India (AAI) visited Halwara for a survey and also prepared a detailed report on the project, which will be submitted to the Punjab government.

The AAI has also included Halwara in the list of unserved airports under UDAN scheme. In the third round of bidding for regional connectivity scheme (RCS), airlines will be invited to bid for starting operations to and from Halwara.

This was revealed by AAI in its reply to a query filed by the TOI under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Rajeev Kumar Bhatnagar, AAI deputy general manger (planning), said, “There is a proposal from the government of Punjab to set up an international civil enclave at the Halwara Indian Air Force Station. The AAI has done a prefeasibility study and the report will be sent to the state shortly. The civil enclave will be developed at Halwara after the requisite land is handed over to AAI by the state government and a memorandum of understanding signed.”
09/10/18 Mohit Behl/Times of India